sourCEntral - mobile manpages

pdf

asciitopgm

NAME

asciitopgm - convert ASCII graphics into a portable graymap

SYNOPSIS

asciitopgm [-d divisor] height width [asciifile]

DESCRIPTION

Reads ASCII data as input. Produces a portable graymap with pixel values which are an approximation of the "brightness" of the ASCII characters, assuming black-on-white printing. In other words, a capital M is very dark, a period is ver light, and a space is white. Input lines which are fewer than width characters are automatically padded with spaces.

The divisor argument is a floating-point number by which the output pixels are divided; the default value is 1.0. This can be used to adjust the brightness of the graymap: for example, if the image is too dim, reduce the divisor.

In keeping with (I believe) Fortran line-printer conventions, input lines beginning with a + (plus) character are assumed to "overstrike" the previous line, allowing a larger range of gray values.

This tool contradicts the message in the pbmtoascii manual: "Note that there is no asciitopbm tool - this transformation is one-way."

BUGS

The table of ASCII-to-grey values is subject to interpretation, and, of course, depends on the typeface intended for the input.

SEE ALSO

pbmtoascii(1), pgm(5)

AUTHOR

Wilson H. Bent. Jr. (whb AT usc DOT edu)

pdf